Dark Souls is Secretly the True Modern Castlevania

Fans of Super Metroid and Symphony of the Night should take note of this harsh but fair journey.

There's a moment in a select handful of games where things just... click. There's really no other word to describe it. Sometimes it happens early on within the first few minutes. Running around the front lawn of the castle in Super Mario 64 brought this moment to the forefront almost immediately. Other times you have to put in a solid day of playtime to reach this moment. Many RPGs don't click until you've leveled your characters and gained the freedom to explore the world as you see fit.

This moment, "the click", recently occurred to me during my play through of Dark Souls. I can safely say that I did not enjoy my initial time with the game. During the first few hours I viewed it as an oblique, unorganized slew of ideas shoved under a sadistic rug. If it weren't for the fact that I was playing it for work, I honestly can't be certain that I would've kept going. But then at about the five hour mark, something happened. It was a simple elevator ride from a parish to a shrine. It couldn't have lasted more than 10 seconds. But when the doors to the lift opened and I realized what had just happened, I could all but hear the crisp click in my gaming portion of my brain.

Dark Souls is a lot of things, but it wasn't until the elevator doors opened that I identified the game as what it truly is: A modern-day Castlevania with a dash of Metroid thrown in for good measure. The two franchises, specifically Super
Metroid and Symphony of the Night, are generally held as pillars of their genres. Although both have moved on and had recent installments go beyond 2D, none of them seemed to be able to capture the essence and magic of the earlier titles as perfectly as Dark Souls has.

The best games have always had a knack for breaking free from the confines of rigid genre tropes, and Dark Souls boldly continues this tradition. Super Metroid and SOTN were less about a strict left-to-right A-to-B progression, and more about letting the player uncover the maps as they see fit. Of course, there always is a rough order in which objectives need to be tackled. Without the Varia Suit, Samus would never make it through Norfair alive. But what's great about these games is that they allows the player to discover these facts for themselves. Like Super Metroid and SOTN before it, Dark Souls simultaneously encourages exploration while teaching us to both fear and respect death. The only way to realize that an area is full of beasts far beyond your current level is to get slaughtered by them and learn your lesson. Great pleasure is gleaned from finding an area to be impassible, only to return later on and wreak havoc as a much more powerful character.

Click the image above to check out all Dark Souls screens.

Aside from a non-linear form of progression, Dark Souls also feels like a spiritual successor to these games in its emphasis on a robust setting and meticulous geography. Planet Zebes and Dracula's Castle provided dynamic worlds that were brimming with life. They exuded character, wonder, and history in a way that made other video game settings feel like static backdrops. Think back to that feeling you got when you first stumbled upon the cavern in Crateria that held a solemn gold statue of monstrous figures intertwined with one-another. It wasn't until much later that most players realized that they were standing at the base of an idol composed of the boss encounters Samus would have to face throughout the game. The ominous foreshadowing of this quiet moment is something that Dark Souls manages to harness and deliver at an alarming rate. The story of its world is not presented to you through long-winded text blocks, but rather experienced as you play the game.

Arguably one of the most iconic facets of Super Metroid and SOTN are their twisting, sprawling maps. Those games turned us into amateur cartographers spending sleepless nights trying to fill in the dark corners of the maps. Although Dark Souls lacks the accessible overlay map of most titles in the genre, there is little doubt that the fanbase will create one soon after its release. The world has a distinct geography that continually trickles back to a central hub. Alongside the map, Dark Souls feels like a spiritual successor to these other games in terms of the scope of the world. Each title is full of those moments where you step into a boss chamber, only to realize that your puny avatar stands no chance against the hulking behemoth that stands opposite of you. Think the first time you navigated to the heart of Brinstar and faced off against Kraid. Think Granfaloon, the guardian of Dracula's Catacombs, who appears as a floating mass of corpses. Encounters like these are tossed throughout Dark Souls in heaping amounts. Just wait until you step into the Depths and stand opposite the "Gaping Dragon."

It baffles me that Namco Bandai hasn't been presenting Dark Souls as a spiritual successor to Symphony of the Night. Obviously the infamous difficulty of the game has become the main talking point, but the similarities it shares with its 2D predecessors are pleasantly surprising. There's no doubt that Dark Souls' exceedingly high level of difficulty is going to turn away a large contingent of players. There are some of us who simply do not have the time to spend dozens of hours being punished with repeated failure. But those who are willing to take the plunge and immerse themselves in the game might just find themselves at the familiar base of what will soon be considered a new pinnacle of the genre.

Comments (83)

Great preview and my opinion.

And to those of you complaining about the difficulty of Demon's Souls: It really wasn't THAT hard. If you kept dying all the time then you just sucked, that's all. I can say that I've probably spent a good 100+ hours into Demon's Souls and enjoyed every bit of it, and I didn't really die that much. The only times I died was when I was either careless or got impatient and too kill hungry, especially during boss fights.

So again, to those of you who thought Demon's Souls was hard and kept dying in it because you suck at it...don't get Dark Souls. Both of these wonderful games can do without bad comments because you can't play it properly. Just my thoughts on that.

Words can't even begin to explain how great this preview is, I think it hit the nail on the head. That was actually one of the first things that crossed my mind when I saw the first gameplay video of Dark Souls: Castlevania. Being a huge fan of Castlevania, this pleases me very much. I noticed one thing that will probably distract me a bit during the game, and that is the pain sounds for male characters. I'll probably be really focused at some point and if I get hit accidentally I'm afraid I'll burst out laughing because hearing your character go "oaaaah! :)" and "aaaah! :)" sounds really inappropriate when facing an onslaught of enemies.

One of the things I look forward to most in Dark Souls is this: dying. I love the trial and error approach to both games because it reminds me of hard mode in some Castlevania games. Sometimes I just had to find a pattern that worked without dying and stick with it; if I messed up I died. And I get the impression that's how this game will be like.

Anyway, I won't waste any more space on here. All I have left to say is this...I DON'T THINK I CAN WAIT AN ENTIRE WEEK FOR THIS GAME!!

Summary of Demons Souls and Dark Souls....

You know I actually did torture myself by playing Demons Souls. It was equivilent to punching myself in the balls for 20 hours straight and much less fun. When I finished Demon Souls, I stopped and paused to reflect on my experience. This game wasn't so much "fun" as it was a relief that this piece of shit was finally over. I can sum this idea up in two anologies:

Dark Souls/Demons Souls - It is like going to Taco Bell, ordering a Crave Case, sticking a cork up your ass and being forced to wait to take a shit for 24 hours at which time you are free to take a shit and feel a sense of relief.

Dark Souls/Demons Souls - It is like being a Holocaust survivor at Aushwitz. Every day is a painful struggle for survival and once the Americans shut down the camp, there was a great sense of "relief."

not really...

you must have sucked cause it really wasnt that hard. i wouldnt call the game "fun" but it was probably one of the most engaging, immersive, and rewarding games ive ever played. i certainly wasnt relieved when i beat it. i wanted more cause the game is awesome. now im getting more soon.

Shut Up DkKnightX. You're an idiot.

Not accurate at all. It's inappropriate and racist to compare a video game to the holocaust. How does dying in a video game compare to being forced into an internment camp where you are summarily starved while forcing to work under harsh conditions that are beyond your imagination then executed painfully by lethal gas? You have no idea what those camps were like. None of us can.

You'd have been better off if you'd compared the game to prison rape. Next time you make a post, please check to make sure your head isn't shoved up your ass.

I always felt like Demons Soul's was what Diablo 3 should have been.

When you think of it, Demons Soul's, while being very different from the first Diablo, had loads of similarities in design with it: a main hub, different levels, loot, grinding, hard bosses, etc.

The biggest similarity however was the atmosphere, the feeling of loneliness. Being afraid like hell but just having to dig deeper in the dungeons.. Most of this was lost in D2 but I was happy to see it come back in another franchise.

Not even close to textbook

If you like challenging games than you should buy it. It took me 4-5 days for the game to click and once it did I was addicted. If you rent this you'll just take it back. Your either up for the challenge or not. If you rent it for a couple of days you will just hate it. Renting makes sense in most scenarios but not this one.

Take your garbage somewhere else.

This is pretty much the only decent video game website left, and if youre referring to the IGN article "Dark Souls vs Skyrim" then you obviously don't know how to read. This said nothing about your precious Skyrim. Tits of GTFO, thanks.

Wow

What a realization. This post was incredible, because it hit home perfectly for me. The games in the Metroid saga have been a part of my close family since I was a little kid. I cannot even tell you how many times I stood on the pillar shooting missle after missle at Mother Brain. Or defended the baby Metroid from the Ridley. I am so excited to dive into Dark Souls. I need to see this for myself. Absolutely fantastic post/realization.

Which Ninja Gaiden?

the one on the NES or the one on the XBOX? The NES game was damn near impossible to complete because of all the cheap deaths. On the other hand, next gen NG was ridiculously hard but fair. As long as one studied the moveset and the behavior of enemies, and with enough practice (dying a lot) a player could get through the game without dying. Dark Souls is like the latter NG, practice a lot, and you'll pwn (after dying a lot).

NES Ninja Gaiden

It was hard, yes, but I've played plenty of NES games I would consider much harder. (I still can't get through After Burner without using the hidden continue code.) There's actually a semi-reliable trick for getting past the bird in 6-2, which I plan on posting on when I finally get around to reviewing it.

That's a bold statement.

Dark Souls wasn't on my radar, to be honest. I also never played the spiritual predecessor, Demon's Souls. However, this article changed my mind on Dark Souls. I've already been convinced that I need to give Demon's Souls a try by my fellow 1uppers but now I definitely need to check out Dark Souls.

This article changed my mind

I finished Demons souls which I liked, but I really wasn't going to buy dark souls. This article changed my mind. It entirely true, and Demons Souls DID feel like SoTN in the way that you really couldn't complete each level from beginning to end, you had to get as far as you could before turning back and trying another level. Gathering what you could early on in order to get to the middle of the level, then the end.

what?

he was comparing dark souls to castlevania because of its open world, which was not in demons souls. also, CHAKaN: THE FOREVER MAN!!!! lol, me and my friend have been on a retro games kick, and we just played chakan. crazy ass game

Very much like SotN

So very true. In fact when friends would ask me to Describe Demon's Souls I wold always tell them its very much like Symphony of the Night. Its dark atmosphere, beastly creatures, its action/rpg elements; right down to the left hand/right hand item equip. In fact the similarities are vast. Great article, I'm glad someone brought this point to light.

true

I concur

Slow and steady is the key. You can also build a ranged character and rule most ecounters by sniping. But it's so much more fun to go toe-to-toe with the beasties! Of course, it's hard to build one type of character to rule every single encounter. That's part of the fun, too.

This game had better be nothing short....

of a masterpiece for all the hype it's getting. There was a complete farce of an article about it on IGN (imagine that!!) that really made me wonder if it's really that good, or if someone is getting paid to promote it. Hopefully, 1UP is above that and it's really that good.

Did you play the first one?

If you look at the core mechanics and what was present in the first one, then the second could only get better. I am willing to bet the Demon Souls and Dark Souls will be two games for which I will have intense feelings of nostolgia when I think back to this generation of consoles.

I have not, admittedly.....

...but I wouldn't be opposed to checking it out. It was a blip on my radar when released, and I just never got around to checking it out. From the sounds of it, the new game will be a huge leap over the first. It sounds pretty cool, but like I said, the hype machine is in full force on this one. I just hope it's all it's being made out to be. I'll be honest though, this will most likely be a spring/summer game when nothing else is coming out. Tons of other games coming out this season I want, and I see Skyrim sucking away huge chunks of my life.

The hype will just give the haters more hate

Unfortunately, the hype will prolly just aggravate the people who don't like the game. I'm sure it'll get a few more people to play the game, but their expectations will be so high, the fall will be that much harder.

Let's face it, this game has a limited audience. I want it to sell kabillions of units so they'll make another, but I also don't want some corporation's ideas shoved into it to make the game palatable to the masses.

That is very true....

and I'd wager any publicity is good publicity, especially in this industry. I mean, Duke Nukem sucked, but it sold a ton of copies, even after it got panned. So, it could be a good thing. We all know profit does not make a game good, and every game will have it's fans, so it doesn't matter if I liked it or not, really. Does that mean DS will be good, or profitable, or both? Time will tell. Will I like it? I hope so, it does sound pretty cool.

I was just really annoyed by the IGN article (5 reasons Dark Souls is better than Skyrim) because of the complete lack of objectivity. Not only is it comparing apples to oranges, it was written in such a way that they only took the ways DS is better than Skyrim, and even some of those were purely subjective. Then I come here and see ot being compared to Metroid and Castlevania, 2 of my favorite franchises. It's either being built up to fail like you mentioned, or it really will be that good. It could very well be one of those "best games nobody played". I do totally agree on making a game palatable for the masses. I hate that. I hate when a game is compromised to sell more units. But that's what the industry has become, what with million dollar development price tags. So you end up with the same derivative games like CoD, Madden, and so on, that play it safe to sell more units.

strucure and progression

He's not really emphasizing

that this will have a similar playstyle to Metroid or Castlevania; it's more about conveying the same sort of experience involving exploration and discovery in those two games that he found in Dark Souls.

Hypocrites!!

Alright, the idiots at 1up and IGN want to give Demon's Souls and Dark Souls recognition for realism and difficulty, that is fine, however, if you want consistency and before you have fall in love with the idea these games are truly groundbreaking, first understand what the idea behind a "video game" is and then ask yourself if it conforms to it's own rules consistently.

A "video game" is designed to be fun, engaging, and ultimately, entertaining. Both of these so-called games were nothing more than exercises in masochism. At least for Demons' Souls, there was no story; no point; no guidance, and had absolutely zero focus. You are thrust into a world with nothing. No tutorials, no explanations on the mechanics or gameplay and no story. So now you die pointlessly, continuously and learning nothing. There isn't anything fun about this whatsoever and these games do not represent or harken back to the days of old-school games at all.

Now with consistency, if you are going to design games like this, with this level of "realism," you need to keep in mind that if the intentions of these games were to illiicit frustration, anger and anxiety, you should only have ONE life; one chance to go through this game where death means you need to restart the entire game over again from square one. Make you even MORE cautious about running into enemies where the price of any reckless decision means tens of hours in forced replay for that one tiny mistake. I find it hypocritial of From Software to use this game design/model and not make people REALLY pay for their mistakes while playing. It is oxymoronical it isn't set that way now.

I think these games just insult gamers because after all these years of progress, where games are actually fun and less frustrating, these two medieval games remind us of what we needed to do in order to advance video gaming history to where it is today.

...

Demon Soul's had a tutorial. It explained the controls and did so well enough for me. There were a few things left out but overall it didn't make advancing in the game difficult. As for it not being old-school, I don't see how progressing through the levels with caution and trail-and-error is anything not like the old Mega Man's and Castlevanias. And redoing "tens of hours in forced replay"? Even as an exaggeration, that's way overblown. At most you will have to redo 20 minutes.

Obviously, this series is isn't for you, but it wasn't supposed to be for everyone. Demon Soul's is a hardcore game for hardcore gamers as 1up and most other sites have stated. If you want a game that holds your hand and gives a checkpoint every two minutes there are hundred's of other modern games for that.

I don't think...

...that a game that prominently features dragons is striving for any sort of realism. But I do agree with your assessment that video games should be, "...fun, engaging, and ultimately, entertaining." And after putting a whole hell of a lot of time into Dark Souls, I'd say that it's all three of those.

Why Bother?

Alright, I guess another way you could look at this would be to ask From Software, "Why on Earth would you develop a game only meant for one niche of gamers when the goal is to make a game that would yield the most profit?" Don't think for a minute From is doing any gamer the favor of "fan service" and tuning their game to the hardcore only. Their business model is obviously flawed.

If you didn't learn to hold up your shield after 10 hours of dying

Then I completely agree with you, you should really go play a game that will make it easier for you. May I recommend Wii Sports Resort, zero to no frustration there, or maybe the new Prince of Persia where it's absolutely impossible to die!

Buisness Model?

You know, I think that is one of the major problems with games these days (like Blockbuster movies): if the game's concept or mechanics don't seem to have a proper buisness model it is either not made or changed by some suit who only knows marketing and not games.

Demon's Soul's is a huge success (it remains on Amazon's best selling list still) and whether or not it has sold to a niche, the response for the most part is overwhelmingly positive. The developers only looked to make a great game regardless of how many casual gamers it would leave in the dust. And it worked.

I'm pretty sure

...that this kid is trolling. Who gets this worked up over games they don't even like? Hell, who would let any game work themselves up like this. I love how he talks about hypoctites, consistancy, and oxymorons when he starts off by throwing a fit at how horrible it is such a hard game got made then he switches to screaming at From for not giving only one life and making it harder.

Speaking of hypocrisy...

Speaking out one side of your mouth that games should be "fun, engaging, and ultimately, entertaining," and then saying that From Software should give players one life...that doesn't make any semblance of sense. How is repeating, to quote your words, "tens of hours" going to equate to fun?

Believe me, I'm all for making death a more realized consequence in games, but almost zero-percent of gamers are going to appreciate that.

Both Demon's Souls and Dark Souls apply to a niche gamer; there's no doubt about that. Having interviewed these dudes, I can tell you they take great pleasure in torturing gamers. it's what they do, and they do it well.

It may be a trite statement, but the facts are clearly laid out: if you don't like this style, don't play it.

Strange Obsession

...

This is exactly what old school games were like. Go back and play the original Legend of Zelda, there is nothing to tell you where to go or what to do. It's exploration, trial and error. There is no way to beat half the dungeons without knowing what's going on what walls to blow up. Stop crying because you want your hand held as you beat a game. Demon's Souls was one of the best games of this console generation. You did something dumb... you died plain and simple. Now if you consider it dumb or not is up to you but it probably was dumb. Examples, not healing when you think you could be killed next hit, needlessly rushing at an enemy, not taking your time to see what a new enemy or area is going to present you with, being aware of your surroundings.

Bad business model?

The game sold over 6 times what Atlus projected. Sales for the game broke the half million mark last year.

Just because you don't agree with the "business model" doesn't mean it's unsuccessful. It would be a dull world if creators never tried to break the status quo. Many of the greatest ideas that we've built our entire world on, let it be science, art or tech, has been from people breaking the mold.

If all developers followed the same ideas, all the future would hold is COD 5000 & PGA Tour 5600. I'm sure those games would be divine after so many revisions, but it sure would be boring.

...

I think the story of demon souls was whatever you put in to you got out of it. IF you listened to the npcs and helped them out you could see the story unfold. Of course it wasnt filled with cut scenes and a cliche cookie cutter save the princess from x formula, but it was entertaing as anything ive ever played before. The only thing i would have liked was more variables on the weapons like a diablo 2 type system would have been awesome

It was fun

Because of the challenge. There were parts of Demon's Souls that literally had my heart beating faster as adrenaline rushed through my veins. There is a huge sense of accomplishment for beating parts that have previously smashed you into the ground.

Haha I just came to change it.

Between this and IGN...

I'm starting to think that maybe someone in Namco/Bandai's marketting department has gotten to the powers that be here.

However if it's true, then it's working on me in a big way. I'm hearing the game get compared to Elder Scrolls, Castlevania (both pre and post-symphony), and Metroid and those are some of my most beloved franchises.

Stop talking completely

I can't Wait

I hear a lot of people who say they never tried Demon's Souls because of all the hype over difficulty. Don't let that get in your way of playing it. It's only ultra hard if compared to the current trend of some recent RPGs you can play through without dying once, or at most a handful of times. But if compared to other genres, say platforming or a FPS on harder difficulty levels, I don't think there's much difference. And while the game has great RPG elements, the exploration and play style is more similar to the other genres I mentioned. For me the dying didn't seem hard or out of place, it just felt like classic gameplay, where trial and error gets you through the tough spots. Once you figure out a certain area you won't die there again and you'll feel you've accomplished something, a feeling missing in a lot of games today.

Plus, you can find Demon's Souls at most places for under $20. For about the price of a PSN title you can't beat it (or with trial and error, maybe you can.)

Demon's Souls (as you can tell) is one of my favorite games. DS, Dead Space and Bioshock are three new IP's that for me are some of the best games to come out in a long time and I'm excited about the future of all three. I'd say if you enjoyed either of the other two you'll probably enjoy the other(s).

Now I just have to decide if I buy Dark Souls or RAGE on day one. RAGE looks pretty sweet as well, but I'm leaning toward Dark Souls since I'm guessing it will keep me enthralled for longer. Either way, I'm looking forward to 10-4.

Agreed

Demon's Souls was not as obscenely hard as some make it out to be--as long as you don't expect to beat large areas of a game without dying plenty. Death was common, but it wasn't that punishing (the spawn points were common enough, and experience could be reclaimed).

Also, I still don't know whether to get Dark Souls or RAGE next week. Either way, it's med school break next week and one will get the crap played out of it.

Awesome!

I was already unbelievably excited about Dark Souls and the excitement continues to grow with every article I read! I thought Demon's Souls was the kind of game that would open developers' eyes to the dire need to return to certain gaming traits such as difficulty. Unfortunately it didn't seem to catch on.

I'm thrilled to see that the professionals at 1up and elsewhere are seeing the importance of a game like Dark Souls and the impact it can have on future games. I'm even more thrilled to begin my journey next week into the awesome, terrifying mystery that I'm sure the wold of Dark Souls will be!

Dammit

You just had to use those two games in particular, didn't you? Even if you didn't use "the word," the implication was still there. Now I'll feel a burning urge to at least try this game until I actually do. Well, at least it's a PS3 exclusive, so I won't have to worry about spending money on it right away.

Don't

think most people would make this connection, hence they couldn't try and sell it like that. If they said, it was a spiritual successor to SotN people would be expected that ugh "Metroidvania" style progression, not an obscure reference to the game

@ oldschool

he didnt say demons souls. he said DARK SOULS. its a different game. its open world now. hes mostly comparing the open world exploration, and atmosphere. you havent played the game. and how is saying its like metroid or castlevania "hipster". he said its a natural progression for those types of games. not a direct correlation. so your comment about it being harder than casltevania is pointless. he didnt say its exactly the same. and its easy to see, its openworld, hard, dark fantasy with great atmosphere, where the enemies are preplaced, huge bosses etc...zero similarities? maybe to a blind person. oh and....shut up already.

@ Oldschool Part Deux

Iamsmartyouarenot speaks the truth. This is a much different game than Demon's Souls. Once you get your hands on it, you'll see that it's home to a sprawling world that folds back in onto itself. It also gives you that same sense of excitement when you get a new item/power and want to go back to earlier sections and use it to open up new paths. Honestly, come back in a few weeks once you've put some time into the game and tell me what you think.

In regards to being a hipster, I feel obligated to disclose that this preview was sponsored by the good people at the Pabst Brewing Company.